Lithium phosphate (Li3PO4)
Li3PO4 · CAS 10377-52-3
Lithium phosphate (Li3PO4) is a white inorganic powder made of lithium ions and phosphate groups.
Evidence level
2 of 5
Lab-measured
- 0Predicted only. No one has made it, or no measurement exists.
- 1Calculated. Only calculated or predicted values from sources.
- 2Lab-measured. Measured properties with their conditions stated.
- 3Space-relevant tests. Measured in conditions relevant to space, such as vacuum or atomic oxygen.
- 4Ground-qualified. Qualified for an application on the ground.
- 5Flown or field-proven. Flight or field results exist.
Purity offered
99.99%
Recipe, share of the weight
- Li 18.0%Lithium
- P 26.8%Phosphorus
- O 55.3%Oxygen
Best for
Sputtering targets for thin-film LiPON electrolytes, and surface-coating experiments on cathode powders
Weakest at
Ionic conductivity: crystalline Li3PO4 conducts ions poorly, and the sources print conductivity only as powers of ten, so no value is recorded here
Risk at a glance
- People Moderate. Harmful if swallowed; irritant
- If it fails Moderate. Film crystallizes and loses ionic conduction
- Corrosion Moderate. Crystallization of the sputtered film lowers its ionic conduction.
Quick facts: Lithium phosphate (Li3PO4)
| Property | Value | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Density | 2.54 g/cm³ | 2 sourced values across conditions |
| Melting point | 837 to 1,205 °C | 4 sourced values across conditions |
What is the density of Lithium phosphate (Li3PO4)?
Lithium phosphate (Li3PO4) has a density of 2.54 g/cm³. The range covers 2 sourced values across the tempers, forms and test conditions the sources report; room-temperature values are used where a source states a temperature.
What is the melting point of Lithium phosphate (Li3PO4)?
Lithium phosphate (Li3PO4) has a melting point of 837 to 1,205 °C. The range covers 4 sourced values across the tempers, forms and test conditions the sources report; room-temperature values are used where a source states a temperature.
What is Lithium phosphate (Li3PO4) used for?
Uses recorded in the sources include Thin-film solid electrolyte (LiPON) for thin-film batteries; Coating on Ni-rich layered-oxide cathode powder (research).
Why it exists
Lithium phosphate (Li3PO4) is a white powder with the formula Li3PO4, made of lithium, phosphorus and oxygen. Its interest for batteries is as the material sputtered to make lithium phosphorus oxynitride (LiPON), a thin-film solid electrolyte. It is also tested as a coating on cathode particles. The sources we hold describe it as a ceramic sputtering target, not as an electrode material.
Where it's used
Thin-film batteries
Lithium phosphate is sold as a high-purity sputtering target. Goodfellow says reactive sputtering in nitrogen makes LiPON films with enhanced properties.
Cathode coatings (research)
A 2021 study in Scientific Reports coated Ni-rich LiNi0.91Co0.06Mn0.03O2 cathode powder with 0.1 mol.% Li3PO4. The coated cathode kept 82% of its capacity after 100 cycles, against 68.1% for the uncoated cathode.
Recipe
Li3PO4
Li3PO4 is trilithium phosphate: three lithium atoms for each phosphate group, which is one phosphorus atom bonded to four oxygen atoms. The sources fetched in this run do not describe how it is made, so no process is given.
| Ingredient | Atoms per unit | Share of the weight | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lithium Li | 3 | 18.0% | Lithium ions, the charge carriers that the thin-film electrolyte and coating depend on. |
| Phosphorus P | 1 | 26.8% | Centre of the phosphate group that forms the rigid framework of the solid. |
| Oxygen O | 4 | 55.3% | Completes the phosphate group (PO4). |
Weight shares are calculated from standard atomic weights.
What it can do
Conduction in thin films
Amorphous films are the form that conducts ions. The NIMS record of the 2022 ACS Omega paper quotes the abstract: crystallization of Li3PO4 impedes ionic conduction. No conductivity value is recorded here, because the sources print it only as a power of ten.
Purity offered
99.99%
measured
Suppliers list lithium phosphate at 99.99% assay (ULP and Ereztech). ULP also lists a 99.9% grade.
How it compares
Li3PO4 is not described by the sources as a cathode and it does not carry charge as an electrode. In the sources we hold it is a solid electrolyte precursor and a coating. Its supplier data agree on density, with 2.54 g/cm3 from ULP and 2.537 g/cc from the Angstrom Sciences SDS. The melting point conflicts: 837 °C from ULP and Angstrom Sciences, against 1205 °C from ProChem.
The same measurements for each material, so you can compare them. Each row names the key condition under the value; the full conditions and methods are in the numbered notes under Technical details. Compare every grade in the family.
| Measurement | Lithium phosphate (Li3PO4) |
|---|---|
| Capacity and energy | |
| Capacity retention after 100 cycles, Li3PO4-coated NCM cathode (coating study) | 82 %10 |
| Capacity retention after 100 cycles, uncoated NCM cathode (comparison) | 68.1 %11 |
| Thermal behavior and safety | |
| Melting point, supplier product page | 837 °C3 |
| Melting point, Angstrom Sciences SDS | 837 °C4 |
| Melting point, ProChem safety data sheet (product 2360) | 1205 °C5 |
| Melting point, ProChem product page (product 2360)Value printed on the supplier's product page | 1205 °C |
| Physical and electrical | |
| Density, supplier product page | 2.54 g/cm³1 |
| Density, supplier safety data sheet | 2.537 g/cc2 |
| Other measurements | |
| Molar mass, Angstrom Sciences SDS | 115.8 g/mol6 |
| Molar mass, ULP product page | 115.8 g/mol7 |
| Water solubility, Angstrom Sciences SDS | 0.39 g/l8 |
| Assay of the 99.99% grade (supplier product 03150800PD002)Assay printed on the supplier's product list | 99.99 % |
| Assay of the 99.9% grade (supplier product 03150800PD001)Assay printed on the supplier's product list | 99.9 % |
| Assay, Ereztech listing | 99.99 %9 |
Why choose it, and why not
Good for
- Thin-film battery research, where the material is sputtered to make LiPON electrolyte films (Goodfellow).
- Cathode coating experiments, where a 0.1 mol.% Li3PO4 layer raised capacity retention (Scientific Reports, 2021).
Watch out for
- Crystallized Li3PO4 conducts ions poorly, and the sputtering conditions decide whether the film stays amorphous.
- The two supplier data sheets give melting points of 837 °C and 1205 °C, so confirm the value on the batch certificate.
- Hazard classes differ: Harmful if swallowed (H302) in most sources, but Toxic if swallowed (H301) in the 2015 Angstrom Sciences SDS.
A sourced lithium compound for LiPON film and coating research. Ionic conductivity and the melting point are not settled by the sources we hold.
Technical details
For scientists and researchers. Everything above comes from the record below: every number with its method, its conditions and its source.
Notes
The method, full conditions and any caveat for the numbered rows above.
| # | Measurement | Method | Conditions | Caveat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Density, supplier product page | Value printed on the supplier's product specification list | form powder, as sold by the suppliertemperature not stated | — |
| 2 | Density, supplier safety data sheet | Value printed in the physical and chemical properties section of the SDS | form Powder, granules, pellets, sputtering target (forms listed in the SDS)temperature not stated | — |
| 3 | Melting point, supplier product page | Value printed on the supplier's product specification list | form powder, as sold by the supplier | Conflicts with the 1205 °C printed by ProChem for the same CAS number; both values are kept side by side. |
| 4 | Melting point, Angstrom Sciences SDS | Value printed in the physical and chemical properties section of the SDS | form Powder, granules, pellets, sputtering target (forms listed in the SDS) | The same 837 value is printed on the ULP product page; ProChem gives 1205 °C. |
| 5 | Melting point, ProChem safety data sheet (product 2360) | Value printed in the physical and chemical properties section of the SDS | form powder, product 2360 | Conflicts with the 837 °C given by ULP and Angstrom Sciences. |
| 6 | Molar mass, Angstrom Sciences SDS | Value printed in the physical and chemical properties section of the SDS | basis Molecular Weight line of the SDS | — |
| 7 | Molar mass, ULP product page | Value printed on the supplier's product specification list | basis Molecular weight field of the product page | — |
| 8 | Water solubility, Angstrom Sciences SDS | Value printed in the physical and chemical properties section of the SDS | temperature not stated in the SDS | — |
| 9 | Assay, Ereztech listing | Assay printed on the supplier's product specification list | method of assay by elemental analysis (as printed) | — |
| 10 | Capacity retention after 100 cycles, Li3PO4-coated NCM cathode (coating study) | Capacity retention after the 100th cycle, as printed in the abstract and Table 2 of the paper | cathode LiNi0.91Co0.06Mn0.03O2 with a 0.1 mol.% Li3PO4 coatingcycles 100 | A test on a coated cathode, not on pure Li3PO4. |
| 11 | Capacity retention after 100 cycles, uncoated NCM cathode (comparison) | Capacity retention after the 100th cycle, as printed in the abstract and Table 2 of the paper | cathode LiNi0.91Co0.06Mn0.03O2 without coatingcycles 100 | — |
Corrosion and compatibility
What happens when it meets other materials and environments.
| Environment | Concern | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Sputter deposition in argon (film ageing) | moderate | Crystallization of the sputtered film lowers its ionic conduction.1 |
| Water and moisture (powder) | not rated | The SDS prints a water solubility of 0.39 g/l, with no temperature given.2 |
| # | Environment | Details | Test conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sputter deposition in argon (film ageing) | The NIMS record of Ohnishi and Takada (ACS Omega, 2022) quotes the abstract: 'crystallization of Li3PO4 impedes ionic conduction'. The same abstract says a moderate oxygen addition to the argon sputtering gas suppresses crystallization. | process RF sputtering of Li3PO4 films in argon, with and without oxygen addition |
| 2 | Water and moisture (powder) | Angstrom Sciences prints a water solubility of 0.39 g/l for lithium phosphate. No humidity or long-term moisture test of the powder was found in the sources we hold. | basis water solubility line of the SDS; temperature not stated |
Risks and side effects
Hazards to people, what happens when a cell overheats, and how the material is handled and stored.
For people
Most sources agree on harmful if swallowed and on irritation. One 2015 SDS gives a more severe class.
- Ingestion
- PubChem's GHS summary gives H302 Harmful if swallowed for 100% of notifications, and the ProChem SDS agrees.
- Skin, eyes and airways
- H315 Causes skin irritation, H319 Causes serious eye irritation and H335 May cause respiratory irritation appear in PubChem and the ProChem SDS.
- Conflicting class
- The Angstrom Sciences SDS, revised 07/13/15, gives the signal word Danger and H301 Toxic if swallowed.
If it burns
The ProChem SDS lists the decomposition products in a fire.
- Decomposition
- Hazardous combustion and decomposition products are oxides of phosphorus and lithium oxides.
Test details
The original wording and numbers from the sources, for readers who want them.
Failure risks
| Failure | Trigger and consequence |
|---|---|
| Film crystallizes and loses ionic conductionmoderate severity | Sputtering without the moderate oxygen addition to the argon gas that the paper describesCrystallization impedes ionic conduction (abstract as quoted on the NIMS record of Ohnishi and Takada, 2022). |
Side effects on surrounding parts
| Affects | Effect |
|---|---|
| Fire-fighters and nearby materials | Hazardous combustion and decomposition products are oxides of phosphorus and lithium oxides. |
Handling and storage
- After swallowing, rinse the mouth with water and give one or two glasses of water. Do not induce vomiting (ProChem SDS first-aid section).
- The Angstrom Sciences SDS classes the product as toxic if swallowed (H301), so treat it as toxic until the supplier's own SDS for the batch has been read.
Supply and geography
How common the raw materials are and where they come from.
Lithium
- Top producers (2025)
- Australia 31.7%, Chile 19.3%, China 21.4%, Zimbabwe 9.7%, Argentina 7.9%
- Critical mineral lists
- US: listed
- Recycling
- USGS: construction of lithium battery recycling plants continued throughout 2025.
- Substitutes
- USGS: substitution for lithium compounds is possible in batteries, ceramics, greases, and manufactured glass.
Phosphorus (phosphate rock)
- Top producers (2025)
- China 44%, Morocco 14.4%, United States 8%, Russia 5.6%
- Critical mineral lists
- US: listed
- Recycling
- USGS phosphate rock chapter: Recycling: None.
- Substitutes
- USGS: there are no substitutes for phosphorus in agriculture.
Documents
Datasheets, safety data sheets, papers and standards you can open.
Full record
The complete spore, as stored. Free to reuse under CC-BY-4.0. Images keep the licence shown with each one.
Show the full YAML
spore: profile
id: lithium-phosphate
spore_version: 0.2
family: lithium
name: Lithium phosphate (Li3PO4)
role: solid electrolyte precursor and cathode coating
category: energy
type: solid-state-batteries
summary: |
Lithium phosphate (Li3PO4) is a white inorganic powder made of lithium ions and phosphate groups. Its main technical use is as the sputtering source for LiPON, a thin-film solid electrolyte, and it is also tested as a coating on lithium-ion cathode particles. The supplier data sheets agree on density but give two different melting points.
best_for: Sputtering targets for thin-film LiPON electrolytes, and surface-coating experiments on cathode powders
weakest_at: 'Ionic conductivity: crystalline Li3PO4 conducts ions poorly, and the sources print conductivity only as powers of ten, so no value is recorded here'
identity:
formula: Li3PO4
cas: 10377-52-3
source: prochem-sds
where: Section 3 composition block (formula Li3PO4, CAS 10377-52-3); Angstrom Sciences SDS Section 1 prints the same CAS
tags:
environments: []
stresses: []
applications:
- batteries
properties:
- benchmark: density
label: Density, supplier product page
value: 2.54
unit: g/cm3
scope: material
conditions:
form: powder, as sold by the supplier
temperature: not stated
method: Value printed on the supplier's product specification list
status: ground
source: ulp-li3po4
where: Product specification list, Density field
- benchmark: density
label: Density, supplier safety data sheet
value: 2.537
unit: g/cc
scope: material
conditions:
form: Powder, granules, pellets, sputtering target (forms listed in the SDS)
temperature: not stated
method: Value printed in the physical and chemical properties section of the SDS
status: ground
source: angstrom-sds
where: Section 9, Density
- benchmark: melting_point
label: Melting point, supplier product page
value: 837
unit: °C
scope: material
conditions:
form: powder, as sold by the supplier
method: Value printed on the supplier's product specification list
status: ground
note: Conflicts with the 1205 °C printed by ProChem for the same CAS number; both values are kept side by side.
source: ulp-li3po4
where: Product specification list, Melting point field
- benchmark: melting_point
label: Melting point, Angstrom Sciences SDS
value: 837
unit: °C
scope: material
conditions:
form: Powder, granules, pellets, sputtering target (forms listed in the SDS)
method: Value printed in the physical and chemical properties section of the SDS
status: ground
note: The same 837 value is printed on the ULP product page; ProChem gives 1205 °C.
source: angstrom-sds
where: Section 9, Melting Point
- benchmark: melting_point
label: Melting point, ProChem safety data sheet (product 2360)
value: 1205
unit: °C
scope: material
conditions:
form: powder, product 2360
method: Value printed in the physical and chemical properties section of the SDS
status: ground
note: Conflicts with the 837 °C given by ULP and Angstrom Sciences.
source: prochem-sds
where: Physical and chemical properties section, MELTING POINT line
- benchmark: melting_point
label: Melting point, ProChem product page (product 2360)
value: 1205
unit: °C
scope: material
conditions:
form: powder, product 2360
method: Value printed on the supplier's product page
status: ground
source: prochem-page
where: Product specification, Melting point line
- benchmark: molar_mass
label: Molar mass, Angstrom Sciences SDS
value: 115.8
unit: g/mol
scope: material
conditions:
basis: Molecular Weight line of the SDS
method: Value printed in the physical and chemical properties section of the SDS
status: ground
source: angstrom-sds
where: Section 9, Molecular Weight
- benchmark: molar_mass
label: Molar mass, ULP product page
value: 115.79
unit: g/mol
scope: material
conditions:
basis: Molecular weight field of the product page
method: Value printed on the supplier's product specification list
status: ground
source: ulp-li3po4
where: Product specification list, Molecular weight field
- benchmark: water_solubility
label: Water solubility, Angstrom Sciences SDS
value: 0.39
unit: g/l
scope: material
conditions:
temperature: not stated in the SDS
method: Value printed in the physical and chemical properties section of the SDS
status: ground
source: angstrom-sds
where: Section 9, Water Solubility
- benchmark: assay_purity
label: Assay of the 99.99% grade (supplier product 03150800PD002)
value: 99.99
unit: '%'
scope: material
conditions:
form: powder
method: Assay printed on the supplier's product list
status: ground
source: ulp-li3po4
where: Product list, product 03150800PD002
- benchmark: assay_purity
label: Assay of the 99.9% grade (supplier product 03150800PD001)
value: 99.9
unit: '%'
scope: material
conditions:
form: powder
method: Assay printed on the supplier's product list
status: ground
source: ulp-li3po4
where: Product list, product 03150800PD001
- benchmark: assay_purity
label: Assay, Ereztech listing
value: 99.99
unit: '%'
scope: material
conditions:
method_of_assay: by elemental analysis (as printed)
method: Assay printed on the supplier's product specification list
status: ground
source: ereztech
where: Product specification list, Purity field
- benchmark: capacity_retention
label: Capacity retention after 100 cycles, Li3PO4-coated NCM cathode (coating study)
value: 82
unit: '%'
scope: material
conditions:
cathode: LiNi0.91Co0.06Mn0.03O2 with a 0.1 mol.% Li3PO4 coating
cycles: 100
method: Capacity retention after the 100th cycle, as printed in the abstract and Table 2 of the paper
status: ground
note: A test on a coated cathode, not on pure Li3PO4.
source: sci-rep-2021
where: Abstract; Table 2, capacity retention after 100th cycles
- benchmark: capacity_retention
label: Capacity retention after 100 cycles, uncoated NCM cathode (comparison)
value: 68.1
unit: '%'
scope: material
conditions:
cathode: LiNi0.91Co0.06Mn0.03O2 without coating
cycles: 100
method: Capacity retention after the 100th cycle, as printed in the abstract and Table 2 of the paper
status: ground
source: sci-rep-2021
where: Abstract; Table 2, pristine row
corrosion:
- environment: Sputter deposition in argon (film ageing)
headline: Crystallization of the sputtered film lowers its ionic conduction.
effect: 'The NIMS record of Ohnishi and Takada (ACS Omega, 2022) quotes the abstract: ''crystallization of Li3PO4 impedes ionic conduction''. The same abstract says a moderate oxygen addition to the argon sputtering gas suppresses crystallization.'
rating: moderate
conditions:
process: RF sputtering of Li3PO4 films in argon, with and without oxygen addition
source: nims-ohnishi2022
where: Abstract, as quoted on the NIMS record
- environment: Water and moisture (powder)
headline: The SDS prints a water solubility of 0.39 g/l, with no temperature given.
effect: Angstrom Sciences prints a water solubility of 0.39 g/l for lithium phosphate. No humidity or long-term moisture test of the powder was found in the sources we hold.
rating: unknown
conditions:
basis: water solubility line of the SDS; temperature not stated
source: angstrom-sds
where: Section 9, Water Solubility
risks:
hazards:
- text: 'PubChem aggregates GHS data from 192 company reports from 10 notifications to the ECHA C&L Inventory, signal word Warning: H302 Harmful if swallowed (100%); H315 Causes skin irritation (25%); H319 Causes serious eye irritation (79.2%); H335 May cause respiratory irritation (22.4%). The percentage is the share of notifications giving that code.'
ghs:
- H302
- H315
- H319
- H335
source: pubchem-li3po4
where: Safety and Hazards, GHS Classification
- text: 'ProChem safety data sheet for product 2360 (CAS 10377-52-3): Signal Word Warning; H302 Harmful if swallowed; H315 Causes skin irritation; H319 Causes serious eye irritation; H335 May cause respiratory irritation.'
ghs:
- H302
- H315
- H319
- H335
source: prochem-sds
where: Section 2, Hazard Statements
- text: 'Angstrom Sciences safety data sheet for Lithium Phosphate (CAS 10377-52-3, last revised 07/13/15): Signal Word Danger; H301 Toxic if swallowed. This conflicts with the Warning classes above; both are kept.'
ghs:
- H301
source: angstrom-sds
where: Section 2, Hazard Statements
failure_risks:
- mode: Film crystallizes and loses ionic conduction
trigger: Sputtering without the moderate oxygen addition to the argon gas that the paper describes
consequence: Crystallization impedes ionic conduction (abstract as quoted on the NIMS record of Ohnishi and Takada, 2022).
severity: moderate
source: nims-ohnishi2022
where: Abstract, as quoted on the NIMS record
side_effects:
- text: Hazardous combustion and decomposition products are oxides of phosphorus and lithium oxides.
affects: Fire-fighters and nearby materials
source: prochem-sds
where: Hazardous combustion and decomposition products entry
handling:
- text: After swallowing, rinse the mouth with water and give one or two glasses of water. Do not induce vomiting (ProChem SDS first-aid section).
source: prochem-sds
where: Section 4, Ingestion
- text: The Angstrom Sciences SDS classes the product as toxic if swallowed (H301), so treat it as toxic until the supplier's own SDS for the batch has been read.
source: angstrom-sds
where: Section 2, Hazard Statements
uses:
- application: batteries
device: Thin-film solid electrolyte (LiPON) for thin-film batteries
example: Goodfellow describes lithium phosphate as a high-purity sputtering target and says that reactive sputtering in nitrogen creates lithium phosphorus oxynitride (LiPON) films with enhanced properties, citing Ohnishi and Takada (2022).
source: goodfellow
where: Product page, sputtering and LiPON text
- application: batteries
device: Coating on Ni-rich layered-oxide cathode powder (research)
example: Converting residual lithium on LiNi0.91Co0.06Mn0.03O2 into a Li3PO4 coating (0.1 mol.% Li3PO4) gave 82% capacity retention after 100 cycles, against 68.1% for the uncoated cathode.
source: sci-rep-2021
where: Abstract; Table 2
supply:
- subject: Lithium
producers:
- country: Australia
share_percent: 31.7
year: 2025
- country: Chile
share_percent: 19.3
year: 2025
- country: China
share_percent: 21.4
year: 2025
- country: Zimbabwe
share_percent: 9.7
year: 2025
- country: Argentina
share_percent: 7.9
year: 2025
critical_lists:
- list: 'USGS 2025 List of Critical Minerals (entry: Lithium, used in rechargeable batteries)'
listed: true
recycling: 'USGS: construction of lithium battery recycling plants continued throughout 2025.'
substitutes:
- 'USGS: substitution for lithium compounds is possible in batteries, ceramics, greases, and manufactured glass.'
source: usgs-mcs2026-lithium
where: World Mine Production and Reserves table, 2025 (shares calculated by Space Mushroom against the printed world total of 290,000, which excludes U.S. production); Recycling; Substitutes
- subject: Phosphorus (phosphate rock)
producers:
- country: China
share_percent: 44
year: 2025
- country: Morocco
share_percent: 14.4
year: 2025
- country: United States
share_percent: 8
year: 2025
- country: Russia
share_percent: 5.6
year: 2025
critical_lists:
- list: 'USGS 2025 List of Critical Minerals (entry: Phosphate, used in fertilizers)'
listed: true
recycling: 'USGS phosphate rock chapter: Recycling: None.'
substitutes:
- 'USGS: there are no substitutes for phosphorus in agriculture.'
source: usgs-mcs2026-phosphate
where: World Mine Production and Reserves table, 2025 (shares calculated by Space Mushroom against the printed world total of 250,000 thousand metric tons); Recycling; Substitutes
documents:
- title: 'Angstrom Sciences safety data sheet: Lithium Phosphate (CAS 10377-52-3, revised 07/13/15)'
type: sds
url: https://angstromsciences.com/wp-content/uploads/files/SDS/Lithium%20Phosphate.pdf
year: 2015
- title: 'ProChem safety data sheet: Lithium Phosphate, product 2360'
type: sds
url: https://prochemonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/2360.LithiumPhosphate.pdf
- title: 'PubChem: Lithium phosphate (CID 165867), GHS classification summary'
type: database
url: https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/165867
- title: Sputter-Deposited Amorphous Li3PO4 Solid Electrolyte Films (Ohnishi and Takada, ACS Omega 7, 21199, open access)
type: paper
url: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.2c02104
year: 2022
- title: Dual function Li-reactive coating from residual lithium on Ni-rich NCM cathode material (Scientific Reports 11, 18590, open access)
type: paper
url: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-98123-4
year: 2021
- title: 'USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Lithium'
type: report
url: https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2026/mcs2026-lithium.pdf
year: 2026
- title: 'USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Phosphate Rock'
type: report
url: https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2026/mcs2026-phosphate.pdf
year: 2026
gaps:
- No ionic conductivity value is recorded. The sources print it only as powers of ten (for example 'more than 1×10-6 Scm-1' in the ACS Omega abstract and 1.1 x 10-6 in a LiPON powder-target paper), which the value check cannot match.
- The full text of the ACS Omega paper (doi 10.1021/acsomega.2c02104) returned HTTP 403 and the PMC copy was blocked, so the substrate temperature below which films stay amorphous, any activation energy and the film thickness were not read.
- 'Melting point is not settled: ULP and Angstrom Sciences give 837 °C, ProChem gives 1205 °C. No certificate of analysis for a batch was found to decide between them.'
- Specific gravity 2.537 (ProChem), a molecular weight of 115.9 (PubChem) and 115.79 (ProChem) are printed without units, so they were not recorded as values.
- Water solubility of 0.027 g/100 mL at 25 °C appears in Wikipedia only; Wikipedia is used here for composition, not for property values, so it was not recorded.
- Crystal system, space group and lattice constants were not taken from a source fetched in this run (Wikipedia gives Pmn21 and lattice constants without units).
- No manufacturing or synthesis route was found in the sources fetched in this run, so the recipe line gives composition only.
- Crustal abundance of lithium and phosphorus was not read in this run (USGS PP 1802-A not fetched).
- The EU critical raw materials list was not checked in this run; the critical list entries cite the USGS 2025 list only (page dated November 6, 2025).
- Humidity ageing, thermal stability, electrochemical window and aluminium current-collector compatibility were not found in any source fetched in this run.
- No space-environment source (vacuum, radiation, thermal cycling, flight data) was found for Li3PO4.
- The Kurt J Lesker safety data sheet covers lithium phosphorous oxide, a different product, and was not used for hazards or properties.
- The 82% and 68.1% capacity retention values are for an NCM cathode with and without a Li3PO4 coating, not for pure Li3PO4.
- Molar mass, water solubility and capacity retention are not in spores/property-canon.yaml; snake_case names were used for them.
sources:
ulp-li3po4:
title: Lithium Phosphate Powder (Li3PO4), supplier product page (ULP Materials)
id: products 03150800PD001 and 03150800PD002
url: https://ulpmat.com/product/lithium-phosphate-powder/
kind: web
license: supplier web page, cited not reproduced
prochem-page:
title: Lithium Phosphate, product 2360, supplier product page (ProChem Inc.)
id: product 2360; CAS 10377-52-3
url: https://prochemonline.com/product/lithiumphosphate-2360/
kind: web
license: supplier web page, cited not reproduced
prochem-sds:
title: 'Safety data sheet: Lithium Phosphate, product 2360 (ProChem Inc.)'
id: product 2360; CAS 10377-52-3
url: https://prochemonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/2360.LithiumPhosphate.pdf
kind: datasheet
license: supplier document, linked not reproduced
angstrom-sds:
title: 'Safety data sheet: Lithium Phosphate (Angstrom Sciences, Inc.)'
id: CAS 10377-52-3; EC 233-823-0; date of last revision 07/13/15
url: https://angstromsciences.com/wp-content/uploads/files/SDS/Lithium%20Phosphate.pdf
year: 2015
kind: datasheet
license: supplier document, linked not reproduced
ereztech:
title: Lithium Phosphate, CAS 10377-52-3, supplier product page (Ereztech)
id: CAS 10377-52-3
url: https://ereztech.com/product/lithium-phosphate-10377-52-3/
kind: web
license: supplier web page, cited not reproduced
goodfellow:
title: Lithium Phosphate (Li3PO4) sputtering target, material information (Goodfellow)
url: https://www.goodfellow.com/usa/resources/lithium-phosphate-li3po4-sputtering-target-material-information/
kind: web
license: supplier web page, cited not reproduced
pubchem-li3po4:
title: PubChem compound record, Lithium phosphate (CID 165867)
id: CID 165867; CAS 10377-52-3
url: https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/165867
kind: database
license: public domain (NCBI)
nims-ohnishi2022:
title: Sputter-Deposited Amorphous Li3PO4 Solid Electrolyte Films (Tsuyoshi Ohnishi and Kazunori Takada, ACS Omega 7, 21199-21206), NIMS data record
id: doi:10.1021/acsomega.2c02104
url: https://mdr.nims.go.jp/datasets/3d69d5c5-6502-4edd-ac95-c60a40519d67
year: 2022
kind: paper
license: Creative Commons BY 4.0 (as stated on the NIMS record)
sci-rep-2021:
title: Dual function Li-reactive coating from residual lithium on Ni-rich NCM cathode material for Lithium-ion batteries
id: doi:10.1038/s41598-021-98123-4 (Scientific Reports 11, 18590)
url: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-98123-4
year: 2021
kind: paper
license: CC BY 4.0
usgs-mcs2026-lithium:
title: Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, Lithium
id: USGS MCS 2026, February 2026
url: https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2026/mcs2026-lithium.pdf
year: 2026
kind: report
license: public domain (USGS)
usgs-mcs2026-phosphate:
title: Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, Phosphate Rock
id: USGS MCS 2026, February 2026
url: https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2026/mcs2026-phosphate.pdf
year: 2026
kind: report
license: public domain (USGS)
usgs-crit2025:
title: About the 2025 List of Critical Minerals (USGS), page dated November 6, 2025
id: Final 2025 List of Critical Minerals
url: https://www.usgs.gov/programs/mineral-resources-program/science/about-2025-list-critical-minerals
year: 2025
kind: web
license: public domain (USGS)
license: CC-BY-4.0
updated: '2026-11-01'
review:
status: draft
method: assistant
checked_values: 14
unreachable: 2
caveats: 1
note: 'Read by an AI assistant on 2026-11-01: 14 values recorded from pages fetched in this run. The ACS Omega page and PMC copy could not be opened (HTTP 403 and a verification page).'
story:
why: Lithium phosphate (Li3PO4) is a white powder with the formula Li3PO4, made of lithium, phosphorus and oxygen. Its interest for batteries is as the material sputtered to make lithium phosphorus oxynitride (LiPON), a thin-film solid electrolyte. It is also tested as a coating on cathode particles. The sources we hold describe it as a ceramic sputtering target, not as an electrode material.
uses:
- where: Thin-film batteries
line: Lithium phosphate is sold as a high-purity sputtering target. Goodfellow says reactive sputtering in nitrogen makes LiPON films with enhanced properties.
- where: Cathode coatings (research)
line: A 2021 study in Scientific Reports coated Ni-rich LiNi0.91Co0.06Mn0.03O2 cathode powder with 0.1 mol.% Li3PO4. The coated cathode kept 82% of its capacity after 100 cycles, against 68.1% for the uncoated cathode.
can_do:
- label: Conduction in thin films
line: 'Amorphous films are the form that conducts ions. The NIMS record of the 2022 ACS Omega paper quotes the abstract: crystallization of Li3PO4 impedes ionic conduction. No conductivity value is recorded here, because the sources print it only as a power of ten.'
- label: Purity offered
value: 99.99%
benchmark: assay_purity
line: Suppliers list lithium phosphate at 99.99% assay (ULP and Ereztech). ULP also lists a 99.9% grade.
compare: 'Li3PO4 is not described by the sources as a cathode and it does not carry charge as an electrode. In the sources we hold it is a solid electrolyte precursor and a coating. Its supplier data agree on density, with 2.54 g/cm3 from ULP and 2.537 g/cc from the Angstrom Sciences SDS. The melting point conflicts: 837 °C from ULP and Angstrom Sciences, against 1205 °C from ProChem.'
compare_rows:
- label: Density
benchmark: density
- label: Melting point
benchmark: melting_point
- label: Molar mass
benchmark: molar_mass
handling:
- Avoid dust and swallowing. The sources give it as harmful if swallowed (H302) and as an irritant of skin, eyes and airways (H315, H319, H335).
- The 2015 Angstrom Sciences SDS classes it as toxic if swallowed (H301). Treat it as toxic until the batch's own SDS has been read.
- After swallowing, rinse the mouth and do not induce vomiting, according to the ProChem SDS.
good_for:
- Thin-film battery research, where the material is sputtered to make LiPON electrolyte films (Goodfellow).
- Cathode coating experiments, where a 0.1 mol.% Li3PO4 layer raised capacity retention (Scientific Reports, 2021).
watch_out:
- Crystallized Li3PO4 conducts ions poorly, and the sputtering conditions decide whether the film stays amorphous.
- The two supplier data sheets give melting points of 837 °C and 1205 °C, so confirm the value on the batch certificate.
- 'Hazard classes differ: Harmful if swallowed (H302) in most sources, but Toxic if swallowed (H301) in the 2015 Angstrom Sciences SDS.'
verdict: A sourced lithium compound for LiPON film and coating research. Ionic conductivity and the melting point are not settled by the sources we hold.
recipe:
line: 'Li3PO4 is trilithium phosphate: three lithium atoms for each phosphate group, which is one phosphorus atom bonded to four oxygen atoms. The sources fetched in this run do not describe how it is made, so no process is given.'
parts:
- name: Lithium
symbol: Li
atoms: 3
atomic_weight: 6.94
role: Lithium ions, the charge carriers that the thin-film electrolyte and coating depend on.
- name: Phosphorus
symbol: P
atoms: 1
atomic_weight: 30.974
role: Centre of the phosphate group that forms the rigid framework of the solid.
- name: Oxygen
symbol: O
atoms: 4
atomic_weight: 15.999
role: Completes the phosphate group (PO4).
risk_groups:
- title: For people
level: 2
verdict: Harmful if swallowed; irritant
lead: Most sources agree on harmful if swallowed and on irritation. One 2015 SDS gives a more severe class.
points:
- label: Ingestion
line: PubChem's GHS summary gives H302 Harmful if swallowed for 100% of notifications, and the ProChem SDS agrees.
- label: Skin, eyes and airways
line: H315 Causes skin irritation, H319 Causes serious eye irritation and H335 May cause respiratory irritation appear in PubChem and the ProChem SDS.
- label: Conflicting class
line: The Angstrom Sciences SDS, revised 07/13/15, gives the signal word Danger and H301 Toxic if swallowed.
- title: If it burns
lead: The ProChem SDS lists the decomposition products in a fire.
points:
- label: Decomposition
line: Hazardous combustion and decomposition products are oxides of phosphorus and lithium oxides.
References
Every number above carries a reference number. Click one to see the source and where in it the value comes from.
Updated